


The Last Trial

by wordbending



Category: Original Work
Genre: Character Death, Dark, Fantasy, Gen, commission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-11-01 12:33:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17867360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordbending/pseuds/wordbending
Summary: You had done it. You had defeated the entities that were trying to revive Doomreaper, the greatest evil known in all the Eternal Planes. You had saved the princess. You had completed your quest.And, almost immediately afterwards, you had been arrested.





	The Last Trial

**Author's Note:**

> Commissioned by Aburridillo! Thank you so much!

You had done it. You had defeated the entities that were trying to revive Doomreaper, the greatest evil known in all the Eternal Planes. You had defeated all their minions, all their lieutenants, all their greatest soldiers, and had even defeated a malformed Doomreaper. You had rescued the Princess Catherine and restored the Great Dohecahedron from its twelve parts scattered in temples across Kalendra, the only way of resealing Doomreaper for good.

And, almost immediately afterwards, you had been arrested, the Pure Blade you had used to defeat Doomreaper confiscated from you.

Now you faced a very public trial in front of Queen Lucille von Dragonblood herself. You were not given a lawyer - you were entitled only to speak in your own defense.

“Talon Lightbringer,” says the prosecutor, an old man with a beard that went down to his knees, which, considering his height, were not actually that far from his head. “You stand accused of the murder of twenty-five guardsmen and women. Samuel Shoemaker, Isaac Woodman, Merisa Hunter…”

You speak very quietly. “What relevance do their names have to this?”

“ _Erica..._ “ says the prosecutor impatiently, before pausing. “What relevance do they _not_ have?” He turns to the jury. “Do you see now how little Talon Lightbringer cares for human lives? He is not even willing to hear the _names_ of those he has killed. Is this a man you trust as your hero? Is this a man you trust with a weapon as powerful as the Pure Blade? Who will he consider a threat next? Who will he strike down in righteous anger? Your husbands? Your wives? Your _children?_ ”

You close your mouth.

“I ask that you not interrupt me any further, Lightbringer.”

And he continues listing out names. You chose to not listen to them. Every name wrenched at your heartstrings.

You had killed them. When you had broken into the Dragonblood Castle to rescue Princess Catherine, there had been guards waiting for you, controlled by the entity known as Death. As far as you had been concerned at the time, they were already dead - more zombies than people. That was, at least, what you had told yourself to sleep at night, when the screams and blood invaded your mind.

But was there another way? Could you have saved them? Could you have spared them, instead of cutting them down?

“Lightbringer!” shouts the Queen. “Answer Prosecutor Eric!”

“I’m sorry,” you say. “What did you say, Prosecutor?”

“I said,” says the Prosecutor. “How do you plead?”

You take a deep breath. Your body shakes with a fear you’ve never felt, not in battle, not anywhere. A fear that something like this is beyond you, someone who trained their entire life not in the silver tongue, but in battle.

“They were possessed,” you say softly. “They were not themselves. I was only defending the Princess and the Queen. Nothing more.”

Murmurs roll through the audience - “He’s sick.” “Who cares?” “Let him rot.”

“What relevance does that have?” says the prosecutor, turning once again to the jury. “Did they not have families? Merisa Hunter had a wife, who is now widowed. Samuel Shoemaker had five children, who are now orphans. Erica von Crystalbearer was a noblewoman’s daughter and a legendary hero in her own right. Do they not deserve justice? Do they not deserve retribution?”

Again, murmurs roll through the audience - “Prosecutor Eric is right!” “He should be executed!”

“Now, I ask you again,” says the prosecutor. “How do you plead, Lightbringer?”

You bow your head low. Very quietly, you say the words you feel in your heart, the words you know are true.

“Guilty.”

“He pleads guilty! Members of the jury, how do you find Talon Lightbringer?”

The jury screams, all at once, “Guilty!”

Tears begin to roll down your cheeks. You are unable to stay strong anymore, to put on the brave face that you’ve put on for so many years, even when you felt afraid. The brave face once admired by so many children, the brave face written about in songs.

Because they’re right. You’re a murderer. You’ve killed innocents, and you deserve whatever comes to you.

“Your revered majesty, Queen Lucille von Dragonblood,” says the Prosecutor. “As is your right, you may pass judgment on the defendant. What punishment is just for his crimes?”

The Queen looks thoughtful.

“There is one opinion we have not heard. That of my dear daughter, Princess Catherine.”

“Princess Catherine, then,” says the prosecutor, turning to her. “He has plead guilty. Do you have objections to this?”

Princess Catherine turns to you. There is no look of pity on her face, none of the warmth and goodness you have known from her your entire life.

“I have none.”

“And what is the punishment for his crimes?”

Princess Catherine does not hesitate to respond.

“Execution.”

“Princess,” you say, standing up from the chair, your voice raising in volume. “Did you not love me? Did you not care for me? Did I not save you?!”

Again, Princess Catherine does not hesitate. She only stares at you coldly.

“I never loved you.”

And that is the final blow. With that, you have no choice but to accept your fate.

The next day, you are put under the guillotine, and the legend of Talon Lightbringer comes to an end.


End file.
